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Ninjutsu is the Ninja's means of casting magic. Unlike typical MP-consuming spells, Ninjutsu exchanges for the spell effects at the end of casting. This is powerful because removes any MP limitations, but limiting because it really hurts the old gil-holster and tends to clog one's inventory.

Also interesting to note is that ninjutsu spells will not cause mobs that aggro magic to detect and attack the caster. This is probably due to the fact that ninjutsu is not MP-based, and relies on the consumption of ninjutsu tools.

There are primarily three types of Ninjutsu: buffs, debuffs, and elemental-based damage "nukes." Ninja's elemental-based damage also lowers resistance to the opposing element, so they are also debuffs in their own way. For example: casting Raiton, which is thunder based, will weaken a mob to Earth. This also increases the chances that earth-based spells will not be resisted, whether the spell is cast by a Ninja (such as Hojo or Doton) or a Black Magic spell (such as Stone or Rasp.)

Buff Ninjutsu

Buff Ninjutsu, specifically the Utsusemis and Migawari, is arguably the most powerful and useful of the Ninjutsus.

Utsusemi and Migawari are both very powerful forms of damage negation. Utsusemi allows the user to avoid taking damage from physical attacks and single-target magic spells as long as they can keep the Copy Image active, and Migawari negates the next severely damaging attack that you take. Though Migawari has few common uses, it is invaluable in some situations and allows skilled Ninja to solo monsters that could normally kill an alliance.

Ninjutsu also provides access to alternate forms of Sneak and Invisible, which are always useful for getting around, though for many years it did not provide access to Sneak.

Debuff Ninjutsu

In Experience Points parties or when solo, debuff Ninjutsu is very helpful at crippling your enemy and improving your survivability. Some of the Ninjutsu, specifically the Kurayami line, is also fairly good for Volatile Enmity gain when tanking.

Unlike Enfeebling Magic, which depend on dStat, Ninjutsu debuffs all have a static potency as long as they land. The higher tier spell always has greater potency and casts faster. Therefore, it's best to simply stack as much magical accuracy and Ninjutsu Skill as possible when trying to land them, and to always use the highest tier spell available to you.

Elemental Ninjutsu

There are three tiers of elemental Ninjutsu currently in the game, Ichi (1), Ni (2), and San (3). The first two types are available at level 15 and 40, respectively, but the "San" line is only available at level 75.

Although many Ninja tend to opt not to use them, these spells have some potential strategic importance in the mid levels of a Ninja's career, where the Ni-based line of Ninjustu can play an important role as an effective way for Ninja to do damage. Melee output may be somewhat lacking prior to acquiring Blade: Jin depending upon the target monster, so turning to magic damage does sometimes make sense. Some Ninjas will "spin the wheel", a euphemism for casting, in order, ninjutsu spells in a never-ending cycle until the target is dead. To the left, you can see this "elemental wheel." Starting from the top and moving clockwise: Fire (Ka|火), Water (Sui|水), Thunder (Rai|雷), Earth (Do|土), Wind (Hu|風), Ice (Hyo|氷).

After obtaining Blade: Jin, typically Ninjas rely on their melee damage to hold hate. At this point most elemental ninjutsu casting is limited to using the elemental damage-dealing spells Raiton (lowers resistance) and Huton (lowers resistance) that weaken the target for a follow-up cast of certain valuable debuffs: Hojo (based slow) and Jubaku (based paralyze).

Still, there is something to be said for having a potential source of magic damage on physically resistant enemies, and the developers have been attempting to encourage Ninjas to use these spells more by giving them a skill-dependent bonus.

Magic Damage Equation

Damage Dealt is calculated via the above formula. After each multiplication step, the product is floored to the next lowest integer before continuing to the next multiplier. Terms 5~14 have a base of 1.0 and can be increased or decreased by the relevant stats.

V: Ninjutsu have a unified V value based on tier levels, all elemental Ninjustus have the same V at the same tiers.

Ninjutsu recast delay reduction: Reduces recast time of all spells classified as ninjutsu by the amount listed, stacks (additively) with other forms of recast time reduction such as Haste and Fast Cast.